ALUMNI
Patterson’s Best-Selling Sci-Fi Thriller Leads Summer Lineup on CBS The harrowing tale of a world where violent animal attacks against humans sweep the planet and threaten the future of civilization made it to television screens across the U.S. this summer in the TV show ZOO. The global thriller debuted on CBS in June as an adaptation from the No. 1 best-selling novel by James Patterson ’69 and Michael Ledwidge ’92, and follows Jackson Oz (James Wolk), a young renegade American zoologist who spends his days running safaris in the wilds of Africa with his best friend Abraham (Nonso Anozie). Shortly after the attacks begin, Oz begins to see a link between the strange animal attacks and his late father’s controversial theories about impending threats to the human race. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, news reporter Jamie Campbell (Kristen Connolly) is intent on being the first to break the story behind the mysterious animal behavior, and seeks the expertise of Mitch Morgan (Billy Burke), an off-kilter veterinarian, who prefers the company of animals to people. As the assaults occurring worldwide become more cunning, coordinated and ferocious, Oz and the others are thrust into the race to unlock the mystery of the pandemic before there’s no place left to hide. Patterson is an executive producer of ZOO.
1981
PATRICK RICE was ordained as one of the newest deacons of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. He says his parents influenced his faith-filled life. His father was a permanent deacon in the parish where he grew up in New Jersey. As for his own decision to study for the priesthood, he says, “I just felt there was something missing in my life and realized when I entered the church doors, I felt a sense of peace come over me and felt that was what was missing and knew then that I was being called.”
1982
BOB BRENNAN, CEO of cybersecurity firm Veracode, was profiled in the Boston Business Journal. He noted his degree in psychology has helped prepare for him for his executive roles. JAMES DIXON, vice president for legal and compliance services for Con Edison Development and Con Edison Energy, was elected energy committee chairman of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), a global bar association representing more than 35,000 in-house lawyers in 90 countries. NICHOLAS RAMONI was among eight deacons who were ordained at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in June. J. BRET YOUNG joined INTECH as a managing director, business development. In this role, he is responsible for developing and managing new business opportunities, with the 50 N fall 2015
goal of establishing new client relationships for INTECH.
including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and open source.
1983
1985
DONNA CAVANAGH, humor writer, founded HumorOutcasts.com, a website where humor writers can thrive without being censored. Today, it features the contributed work of more than 100 humorists, cartoonists, novelists, stand-up comedians, and TV producers and writers, many of which are well known. “[Humor writing is] one of the hardest genres to write,” she said in a recent interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, “but in the words of Rodney Dangerfield, ‘It gets no respect.’” WILLIAM DIRCKS joined global automotive supplier Inteva Products, LLC, as vice president and chief financial officer.
1984
JOHN BADDING, professor of chemistry and physics at Penn State, was awarded the 2015 Penn State Faculty Scholar Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Physical Sciences. He is a materials and solid-state chemist whose research focuses on using high pressures to synthesize or characterize microscale and nanoscale materials. JAMES GATTO joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, a growing intellectual property practice group. His practice focuses on all aspects of intellectual property, internet and technology law,
CHRISTOPHER KEAVENEY published his third book The Cultural Evolution of Postwar Japan: The Intellectual Contributions of Kaizo’s Yamamoto Sanehiko (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). Keaveney is a professor of Japanese and Asian studies and co-chair of the department of modern languages at Linfield College. He is the author of The Subversive Self in Modern Chinese Literature and Beyond Brushtalk: SinoJapanese Literary Exchange in the Interwar Period, as well as numerous articles about cultural relations between Japan and China in the interwar period.
1987
ANDREW GYVES joined Screenvision, a national leader in cinema advertising sales, as senior director of national accounts. RICH LEMANSKI is the new head of business development for Macro Risk Advisors, a leading provider of global equity derivatives strategy and trade execution for institutional investors. LT. COL. THOMAS COPPINGER, a resident of Mount Laurel, N.J., took command of the 108th Operations Group and was promoted to colonel during a double ceremony at the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., in February.